§ 101-47.308-5 - [Reserved]

(a) Surplus military chapels shall be segregated from other buildings, and shall be disposed of intact, separate and apart from the land, for use off-site as shrines, memorials, or for religious purposes, except in cases in which the chapel is located on surplus Government-owned land and the disposal agency determines that it may properly be used in place, in which cases a suitable area of land may be set aside for such purposes, and sold with the chapel.

(1) Application. Applications for the purchase of surplus chapels for use off-site or for use in-place shall be solicited by public advertising. All applications received in response to advertising shall be submitted to the Chief of Chaplains of the service which had jurisdiction over the property during the period of Government use thereof for military purposes and shall be disposed of in accordance with his recommendation. If no recommendation is received from the Chief of Chaplains within 30 days from the date of such submission, the disposal agency may select the purchaser on the basis of the needs of the applicants and the best interests of the community to be served. If no application is received for transfer of the property for shrine, memorial, or religious uses, the Chief of Chaplains shall be notified accordingly, and disposal of the property shall be held in abeyance for a period not to exceed 60 days thereafter to afford additional time for the filing of applications. If no such application is received during the extended period, the property may be disposed of for uses other than shrine, memorial, or religious purposes pursuant to other applicable provisions of this subpart.

(2) Sale price. The sale price of the chapel shall be a price equal to its appraised fair market value in the light of conditions imposed relating to its future use and the estimated cost of removal, where required. The sale price of the land shall be a price equal to the appraised fair market value of the land based upon the highest and best use of the land at the time of the disposal.

(3) Conditions of transfer. All chapels disposed of pursuant to the authority of this section shall be transferred subject to the condition that during the useful life thereof they be maintained and used as shrines, memorials, or for religious purposes and not for any commercial, industrial, or other secular use; and that in the event a transferee fails to maintain and use the chapel for such purposes there shall become due and payable to the Government the difference between the appraised fair market value of the chapel, as of the date of the transfer, without restrictions on its use, and the price actually paid. Where the land on which the chapel is located is sold with the chapel, no conditions or restrictions on the use of the land shall be included in the deed.

(4) Release of restrictions. The disposal agency may release the conditions of transfer without payment of a monetary consideration upon a determination that the property no longer serves the purpose for which it was transferred or that such release will not prevent accomplishment of the purpose for which the property was transferred. Such determination shall be in writing, shall state the facts and circumstances involved, and shall be preserved in the files of the disposal agency.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this § 101-47.308-5, a chapel and underlying land that is a component unit of a larger parcel of surplus real property recommended by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare as being needed for educational or public health purposes, may be included in an assignment of such property, when so recommended by the Secretary, for disposal subject to the condition that the instrument of conveyance shall require that during the useful life of the chapel it shall be maintained and used by the grantee as a shrine, memorial, or for religious purposes.